Twisted Wonderland x (Todoroki) Reader

The Lord of Malevolence

-3rd POV-

"Where am I? It's cold, and dark...and lonely." Idia looked around as he slowly got up, "I know this feeling..."

The briar cleared, seeing the familiar gate.

"Is this...?"

"Ahh...Didn't we already have an emotional parting? This reunion feels kind of premature, don't you think? I don't know how you fell down here, but you must have gotten yourself into a real mess." A voice said.

"What? Eep!" He looked at the source of the voice, looking up in shock, "A Phantom?!"

"Hiya. How've you been? Nice to see you, nii-chan. Welcome to the dark, gloomy Underworld!" The phantom Ortho said.

"B...Bwahaaa?!" He exclaimed, "O...Okay, seriously, what is going on?! First a handsome virtual boy and a Styx machine both call me "nii-san"...And now an overgrown Phantom is calling me nii-chan?! Last I checked, my little brother an upstanding student at Royal Sword Academy...not some weirdo like you guys! Even for a nightmare, this makes no sense! And if I am dreaming, please let me wake up!"

"Wait, what? Me, attend Royal Sword Academy?" The large phantom laughed, "That's one wildly imaginative dream you've been having. In fact, that's seriously messed up and makes zero sense. Especially when the real me isn't going to some fun school at all, but all the way down here in the gloomy Underworld."

He shook his head, "No way...I don't believe you. Ortho has a ton of extrovert friends and..."

"Friends? Well, I do have those. But they're all introverted phantoms that only ever grouse and complain."

"That's impossible. Ortho would never end up in a place like this! There's no way! Ortho...My little brother, he's..." He then recalled a memory.

"...Nii-chan. It's not your fault I'm here. It's time you stopped blaming yourself for that. Didn't we make a promise? That we'd keep pressing on to make our dream a reality? Are you really content just cowering here?"

"Our dream...? Argh...My head..." Idia's hands went up to his head, recalling more memories.

We can leave for real this time and go far away.

"...Just leave it to your big bro."

He huffed, "That place...It's where I..." He recalled overblotting, "That was...Ah...Agh! That's right, I...This is where I...Yes, right here! Augh...! Aaaaagh!" He yelled out as his memories came back, shattering the dream reality. He huffed as he was crouched on the ground, holding his head, "Why did I forget? How could I forget something so important? I remember it. All of it..."

The male started to sob, tears streaming down his face, "This is where I overblotted...I joined Ortho and aimed for the stars...Then I lost to fellow students..." He chuckled, sniffling, "So much for "leave it to your big bro." It's you guys, my little brothers, who always end up helping me instead. I'm pathetic...So pathetic..." He sobbed.

"The world needs saving. The world needs...you, Idia Shroud-san!"

"I've got no idea what's going on, but Ortho's turning to me for help. I have to get back...I have to get to him."

"Oh, have you finally woken up? It's a real shame, though, I gotta say...There's this one minor little detail that I think you're forgetting." The phantom Ortho said.

He looked at him, "Huh?"

"You should know better than anyone that the Underworld gate is one-way only. As the ruler of the Underworld, I can't just let souls travel willy-nilly back to the world they came from once they're in here. I got a reputation with the others to maintain, you know."